


Inside Merlin's Head

by Rinn the Small Boy (MasterKathy)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, High School AU, Kisses, M/M, This is cute, shakespeare quotes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 14:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterKathy/pseuds/Rinn%20the%20Small%20Boy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A high school AU that explores the relationship between Merlin and his friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inside Merlin's Head

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy. :)

The coffee is brewed. That’s good, because otherwise there would be no way in hell that I would make it to school on time. Mom is standing behind the kitchen counter, flipping chocolate chip pancakes like it’s nobody’s business. She’s an amazing woman, my Mom.

“Good morning,” she chirps, sliding three onto a familiar, chipped pear and apples themed plate, and handing me both the plate and a fork. “Dig in. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know. Besides, you just keep getting skinnier and skinnier. It worries me. Especially with all that running around you’ve been doing. It’s just not healthy!”

I can’t help but smile at her worrying. She’s not the only one who says these things to me. There’s also Arthur, my boyfriend, who will seriously pull back in the middle of us making out and say something along these lines: “I can feel your ribs, Merlin. Please eat something.” I’ve always been lanky and pale, but now that I’ve joined cross country, I have muscles. I’m not anorexic or anything. I eat a lot. I just have a high metabolism.

“I’m fine, Mom.” I manage to polish back those three, as well as two additional that she manages to sneak onto my plate. “Arthur’s on his way. I’ll see you later.”

“Love you, Merlin!

“Love you too, Mom!”

 

Arthur Pendragon and I have been “an item” for almost six months now, but we’ve been skirting around the issue of dating for much longer. I can’t recall exactly when I fell in love with him, but it was one of those moments where time stopped, and all I could see was him. I slide into the passenger seat of his car, some new hybrid that he bought with money saved from the past few years. He’s fiddling with the radio, grumbling quietly under his breath. I lean over to swipe my lips against his cheek.

“Morning,” he says. “What do you wanna listen to?”

“You know I don’t care, Arthur.”

He sighs. “I know. I thought I would try, though, and see if your answer is different.”

I slide my fingers into his, and soon enough we’re on our way towards Camelot High, also known as the bane of my existence. True, things have gotten better since Arthur and I came out together, because he has the entirety of the lacrosse team on his side, and most of those guys would do anything to protect me. After I started attending the after-match team dinners with Arthur, most of us got to be really good friends.

“So anyways, my Dad and Morgana got into a fight of epic proportions last night. Apparently she came stumbling in around three in the morning, drunk as a skunk and covered in hickeys.” Arthur visibly shudders at the thought of his half-sister. “I woke up to the sound of her and Dad absolutely going at it. They didn’t stop for _two hours_. I’m exhausted, Merlin. Luckily, Gwen was awake when I texted her this morning. She’s bringing me some of that special blend stuff she makes.”

“I’m sorry about Morgana. How’s your Dad doing? Any more symptoms?” Not too long ago, Uther Pendragon suffered from a heart attack. Arthur was by his side through the entire hospital stay, worried out of his mind. While Uther wasn’t exactly pleased when Arthur came out, introducing me as his boyfriend, the two of us have grown to like each other, and my Mom went to high school with him.

“He’s doing much better. He said to tell your Mom thank you for all the casserole dinners and such.”

               

Gwen is waiting outside with Lancelot, her dork of a boyfriend (he’s also a lacrosse player, but not really all that dedicated), holding her flute case tight in one hand and a black travel mug in the other. Gwen is absolutely gorgeous, all dark skin and bright smiles. I can easily say she is my best friend, besides Arthur, of course.

“Thank you so much, Gwen,” Arthur says when Gwen hands him the travel mug. “You are a lady and a scholar, and I so owe you.” He grabs my hand, pulling me towards his side. “You’ve been awfully quiet this morning, Merlin. You alright?”

“He’s probably thinking of new ways to ignore your sister, Arthur. She said some really shitty comments to him yesterday after practice.”

Arthur looks to me, his gaze sharp. “Merlin? What did my sister say to you?”

“Nothing too bad.” I look down at my feet. “Just the usual crap about how cross isn’t a sport, yet somehow cheerleading is, homosexuality is appalling, she thinks you deserve better, she deserves your inheritance more than you do, and then some mumbling and grumbling about Mordred dumping her.”

He leans down to rub his nose against mine. “I’m sorry you have to put up with her, Merlin. Just wait until next year, when we’re in New York together, away from stupid families, all curled up in a dorm at NYU together.” He kisses me then, with soft lips that taste of Burt’s Bees, and I finally relax. “That is, if you can even wait that long. I’m so glad we both got in.”

“I told you that you would. You’ve been doing so much better these last two years.”

Gwen clears her throat. “Boys, we should be getting inside.” She turns on her heels and starts towards the door, Lancelot following quickly behind. Arthur slips one hand into the back pocket of my brown skinny jeans, and we walk inside together.

 

I have AP Calculus with Gwaine and Percival, two of the aforementioned football players turned friends. They’re also dating, having come out after Arthur and I, and they’re so adorable that it legitimately hurts sometimes. We’ve arranged our desks into a small triangle, working through the problem set together, while chattering about college and such.

“So, did I tell you that Percy’s got a permanent hard-on for Tom Hanks now?” Gwaine mentions, all nonchalant. Percival blushes deeply, swatting at him with one hand.

 I laugh. “Percy, that’s adorable. Tom Hanks is adorable. _Stop being so adorable. Right now_.”

Gwaine kisses his boyfriend’s knuckles in apology, and Percival can’t help but smile at him. Makes me miss Arthur a bit, but lunch is soon, and all of our friends were miraculously placed in the same lunch time, which is probably the greatest thing to ever exist.

When the bell finally rings, the three of us are out of the room first, hurrying down the hallway towards our lockers. I bring my own lunch, because school lunches are disgusting, and so do Percival and Gwen, which means the three of us are the first at our usual table in the corner. I brought my potato soup, which my Mom makes all special because I love it so much, and the thermos kept it the perfect temperature, so I’m pretty sure you can all imagine just how good of a mood I’m in.

“I have not seen true beauty until this night,” Lancelot whispers to Gwen as he sits down, and she blushes bright red. My friends are adorable.

Arthur sits beside me, his usual chicken Caesar salad with Italian dressing in front of him, along with two chocolate milks. I smile up at him, and he smiles down at me, and everything is perfect. 


End file.
